November 9:International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

 November 9th, 1938
September 11th, 2001

What do these dates have in common? Well, Americans and Europeans write their dates differently. Americans use Month/Date/Year, while the Europeans use Date/Month/Year. So September 11th is 9/11 in America. And November 9th is 9/11 in Europe.

So what happened on November 9th, 1938? That is the date of Germany’s pogrom where they broke the glass on many Jewish businesses. At the time, they called it Night of the Broken Glass (or Kristallnacht). Some have argued we shouldn’t refer to it is Kristallnacht today, since that is the euphemism Hitler's government chose, and instead we should refer to it as what it was — a pogrom. Those who feel this way often call the day Pogromnacht. Others argue that over the decades the word has developed a connotation that cancels out any original euphemistic intent. Anyway, it is considered by historians as the beginning of the Holocaust.

There are several major historical events that fell on November 9th.

694 – The Seventeenth Council of Toledo (more about below)
1494 – The Medicis assumed rule of Florence, Italy
1799 – Napoleon overthrew the French government in the coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire
1918 – Kaiser Wilhelm stepped down, and Germany’s Republic began
1923 – Hitler’s failed Beer Hall Putsch
1938 – Kristallnacht/Pogromnacht
1953 – Cambodia declared its independence
1989 – The gates to the Berlin Wall separating East and West were opened.

The term Schicksalstag "Day of Destiny" is often used in Germany to describe November 9th. However, it should be pointed out that all the German events that occurred after 1918 were planned actions. Even in 1989, the demonstrations that led up to the event began in September; the government of East Germany at least to some extent chose November 9th as the date to officially open the gate. That said, obviously the earlier events outside of Germany on November 9th couldn't have been planned to coincide with later events.

Now let's approach this from a numerology perspective.

November, literally means Ninth Month in Latin. This is because for the Romans, November was the 9th month. The year ended in February, which is why February is the shortest month, and has a day added to it every four years. So November 9th, from the Roman perspective, would be 9/9. And September 11th would be 7/11 (or 11/7). Both total 18.

Nine and its multiples are considered by some to be an unlucky number. 18, however, is considered by Jewish mystics to refer to Life, since in Hebrew numbers and letters are interchangeable – it would be as if we used A to mean 1, and B to mean 2, etc. The tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the Yod, and the eighth letter is a Chet. The number 18 is written Chet-Yod, which is pronounced ‘Chai’, and means ‘life.’

Finally, a note of explanation to one of the dates in the list above. At the 17th Council of Toledo on Novmeber 9, 694, King Ergica of Hispania and Septimania claimed to learn from informers that the Jewish population in Hispania had attempted a revolt, conspiring with Jews and Muslims in North Africa. Responsively, Ergica declared all Jewish-held land forfeit, all Jews to be slaves, and all Jewish children over the age of seven to be taken from their homes and raised as Christians. If the Rosetta Calendar is correct, November 9th, 694 (Julian) and November 9th, 1938 (Gregorian) were both Heshvan 15 on the Hebrew calendar 4455 and 5699 respectively.

This is all just something you may or may not want to think about on the anniversary of what I like to refer to as “The European 9/11″.